What businesses can learn from Gareth Southgate

When Bukayo Saka missed the penalty that meant England lost the Euro 2020 final against Italy, television cameras quickly honed in on Gareth Southgate comforting the player. Since this moment, England’s players have made it clear that they win and lose as a team, with Southgate stating that “nobody is on their own in that situation”. Southgate’s management style is never about him; it’s always about others.

Noted as “England’s biggest asset”, he took the job not after years of club management, but years of study on leadership, and an expert understanding of the game. His approach focuses on mindset and culture, rather than just technique and tactics – using empathy, authenticity and confidence in risk-taking when making decisions.

Juggling unknowns and dealing with the unpredictable is where Southgate thrives, using his outside-in expertise to do so. Similar to his Euro 2020 experience, businesses and business leaders of today have also never before managed such a significant event as COVID-19. Yet with new research from Future Strategy Club revealing that 42% of the UK workforce value advice and guidance from outside-in leaders over internal management, now is the ideal time for businesses to take a leaf out of the England teams book and re-design their leadership model through the support of external experts who are unphased by the acute challenges in how we are doing business today.

With further data from Future Strategy Club revealing that 41% of workers in the UK agree that their employers are not managing correctly post-pandemic, now is the time for private sector leaders to guide and support businesses. from Gareth Tennant, the former Head of Intelligence at the Royal Marines, Hector Arthur, former Digital Director of The Times or Karl Weaver and former CEO of the DataPractice at Publicis.

Justin Small, CEO of Future Strategy Club, discusses how to emulate positive leadership amid a pandemic and what CEOs can learn from the England manager:

“Gareth Southgate has shown the true value of leadership – alongside his strategic decision making, he is an empathic leader who leads with the heart. He has cultivated a culture of innovation and autonomy – being everything a leader should be. His management style draws on his previous study on leadership, and an expert understanding of the international game – all of which he has learnt over many years.

Just like Euro 2020, businesses and business leaders have never before managed such a significant event as COVID-19. And the pandemic has driven a range of unexpected and unbelievable changes in every aspect of a business.

These new and ever-changing circumstances demonstrate that today’s business world is more unpredictable and uncertain than it ever has been before. This means for many businesses that re-designing their leadership models and looking for support from external experts is essential, with the pandemic completely re-defining the workplace.

Now, businesses can source creative freelancers to enrich a team and drive fresh results – using their outside-in expertise to thrive.”